


An old story I wrote back in 2017

by 4ce



Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: And Also Explosions, Death, Gen, Violence, actually no one’s vibing in this story, jesus it’s sort of edgy, my Guy Cross is not vibing, uh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-22
Updated: 2020-04-22
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:01:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23789758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/4ce/pseuds/4ce
Summary: I decided to put this here. It’s about my ocs trying to do something very heroic but also sort of failing. Very edgy. I wasn’t entirely sure about the rating but like people die and stuff explodes so yeah. I know nothing about tactics here and it shows
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a story I wrote back for a challenge on amino of other places. I haven’t edited or altered anything, this is how the story looked when I published it. This includes the comments in parenthesises. 
> 
> I wrote it on one sitting and my writing has definitely improved since then, but I wanted to archive it to look back at it. It’s also not an actual part of my ocs’ story although it does show their personalities and stuff.

It was dark. Both due to the fact that it was nighttime, and also because Cybertron lacked it's usuall sparkly appearance. The remaining cities on the planet had become nearly abandoned, with fights continuously breaking out between the autobots, decepticons, and sometimes even the occasional neutrals.

Except for the shots that rang out once in a while, and the screams that sometimes followed, Cybertron was silent. The Iacon who was once bustling with life, was reduced to a decaying piece of rubble, uninhabitable for most. Every now and then, a ship would leave the planet, or, attempt to at least. Sometimes, they were lucky, while other times, a missile would send the ship crashing down to the ground again. Either way, the chances of getting off this planet were slim.

A red and white vehicle resembling an earth jet, was hastily speeding across the barren land. Reaching Iacon and flying inside one of the many buildings, the mech transformed looking around for any potention cons. When he found none, he walked towards his destination, keeping his weapon raised, and an optic underneath his visor on his surroundings.

Cross kept walking towards the intended target location, keeping in the shadows. His gaze briefly scanned the area around him, looking for movements. When he found none, the flier quickly dashed from where he was hiding, towards his next cover. Everything was still quiet for now. A shot rang out, and then he didn't hear anything else.

As he approached the other Autobot base, he found himself staring at the front gate, who was littered with gun shots. The door itself appeared to be jammed in the middle by a large piece of rubble, and the whole scene left Cross with a sense of trepidation. He carefully stepped over the rubble, and into the darkness that had been their neighboring base.

It wasn't a pretty sight. Even though Cross didn't know any of the bots that now were sprawled out, their frames devoid of any colours, except for the brief conversations he had had with them. It didn't matter. None of them deserved this either way.

He spent a while looking around in the base, trying to find survivors. His final hope of actually finding anyone alive was quickly extinguished as he walked further into the base. A bot who seemed to have a pole through his chest, spotted him and tried to say something. Cross quickly ran to him. "Don't. You've lost a lot of energon." The bot ignored him, and managed to mutter something about an ambush, before his optics greyed, along with his frame. As he exited the base, Cross couldn't help but feel like he could have done something.

Another shot rang out. Cross spun around towards the sound, and used his thrusters to jump further up on the building he was in. From the roof, he carefully peered down on what appeared to be a group of three cons surrounding a tiny bot. Maybe a minicon or something. The cons were all laughing and talking, as they strolled away from the damaged bot, not even a hint of remorse in their tone. Cross clenched his fists, and resisted the urge to shoot them there and then. He would most probably miss and further reveal his position. All he could do, was wait until the cons got away, and hope that the bot would still be alive by then.

After what felt like several joors, the cons were finally out of sight. Cross quickly jumped down, using his thruster to dampen the impact. He landed, and ran to the bot, stepping over all the rubble.

It was a green and blue bot, which appeared to have a face mask and a transparent visor. The bot sported several gunshot-wounds on his legs and arms, as well as a huge one in the chest. Cross carefully picked him up, cursed the decepticons, and walked into the building again. He carefully sat the minibot against a wall and un-subspaced his medical tools. He started wielding the chest-wound together, and temporarily sealing the main energon lines while he assessed the damage, concluding that he would be able to stabilize the bot for now.

"He's in here somewhere!" A voice rang out, followed by pedesteps. Cross cursed, and picked up the minicon again. Of course he should have been more careful. The jet jumped out a window, changing his form into his vehicle form, and sped off with the bot, not looking back.

As he did this, said minicon was slowly regaining consciousness and sat up, trying to look around. "W-where...?" He began. He looked down at the wound in his chest, which appeared to be patched up, and then out of the main window of Cross' alt mode.

"Sorry about the rude awakening, but you almost got shot to death by those cons." Cross said, surveying his surroundings as he saw a building and avoided it. 

"Thanks... I guess." The minicon sat back again, winching slightly at the movement. "Who.. are you by the way?"

"Right. My name's Cross. I'm an autobot. And you are..?" Cross introduced himself.

"The name's Dazzle." The bot, Dazzle, replied. He turned his head, peering out of the window again. "Nice to meet you I guess. And those cons are after us by the way."

Cross also looked. Three cons were currently flying after him. "Scrap! Brace yourself!" Cross yelled as the cons opened fire. He dodged it, flying zig-zag between the buildings, trying to shake them of. It didn't work of course. 

Meanwhile, Dazzle did his best to avoid getting flung around in the cockpit while this happened. "Ugh.. I'm glad I don't usually get airsick..".

"Just hold on! We're almost there!" Cross kept dodging the fire. He took an extra turn around a building, flying through a hole in it. The three cons followed, one hitting the wall, bursting into flames. "Heck yeah!" Dazzle exclaimed.

"Don't get your hopes up just yet." Cross did a loop, landing behind the cons. He then proceeded to fire his own weapons against them, hoping to at least disarm them. The cons dodged, but sped up and flew away, disappearing into the horizon.

"Huh. That was... odd." Cross slowed down a bit, changing direction. When he was absolutely certain that they weren't being followed, he continued on his way towards their own base. "Well, not that I complain.." Dazzle laughed nervously and focused his attention to the windows, looking at the landscape.

"True." Cross replied somewhat absent-minded. He was still thinking about the cons for some reason. Why would they just leave like that, unless... 

The realization suddenly dawned on him as the sound of another jet could be heard close behind him.

"Oh no..." Dazzle stared in horror, while Cross sped up even further, mentally scolding himself for not knowing better.

:Lancer! Switchblade! Activate the cannons!: He managed to get out as the base came into view. He could see Lancer running into the base again, and hear the automated defense system activating, before an explosion sent him crashing down towards the ground. After that, he didn't hear anything.

((If you're still alive after reading this, thank you.))


	2. Chapter 2

((Darn, I forgot to add theme song. Anyway, for the whole story combined it would most probably be "After the End of the World", by Tryhardninja))

((I use deca-cycles as weeks, kliks as minutes, nano-kliks as seconds, and joors as hours. I also use solar-cycle as days.))

Chapter 2

"...Ross?"

"...you hear me?"

Cross' optics slowly flickered on, as the flier tried to discern what the blobs in his vision were supposed to be. One of them were much smaller than the others. He lifted a hand to his visor, feeling cracked glass. "What happened...?" He finally managed to say, letting his hand drop.

"You got hit by a missile." Dazzle chimed in. Said bot looked much better, and the wound on his chest seemed to be healing normally. The minicon was currently looming over Cross with a concerned look on his faceplates.

"The cons...?" Cross tried to look around, but had to give up due to the room suddenly spinning. He laid his helmet back down with a sigh. 

"We managed to shoot them down before they reached the base." Lancer explained. The mech was sporting a burn on the right side of his helmet, but looked fine otherwise. Switchblade was a bit further away, peering out of one of the windows. Or, former windows. They were now layered with metal plates, leaving only a few tiny gaps.

Cross slowly got up on his pedes, preparing himself for the impending wave of dizziness. The mech nearly fell forwards, if it hadn't been for Astro. The larger mech caught him, and gently sat him down again. "You've lost a lot of energon. I suggest you rest first.".

Cross was too tired to argue, and let himself slowly slip into stasis.

The next couple of joors seemed blurry. He remembered waking up once, and hearing Dazzle and Lancer talk, before he fell into stasis again. The next time, he woke up, he could swear he head talk about a decepticon facility. When he finally woke up for real, Switchblade was there, looking at the monitor, which was supposed to alert them of cons, and to keep in touch with the other bases. He got up, and walked to Switchblade, the room being still for once. "Any life-signs from the other bases?".

"I-I'm afraid not..." Switchblade replied, pointing to the monitor, which showed no indication that anyone had tried contacting them. "I-I've tried calling as well, but... b-based off the lengthy silence...." Switchblade didn't dare to finish.

Cross was silent for a moment. The quiet couldn't mean anything good for sure. He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again. "Where are the others?" He finally asked. "They're in the rec room.." Switchblade pointed.

As Cross entered said room, he found Dazzle, Lancer and Astro talking. The minibot seemed to get along with all three of them, and was telling some sort of story, possibly from a decepticon encounter. Cross felt a pang of sadness when listening to him. The minicon was obviously younger than any of them, and had already seen enough death for a lifetime. He hesitated for a split second, before walking to them.

"Welcome back to the land of the living." Lancer joked, almost smiling. Dazzle waved, and Astro gave a quick nod in acknowledgment. "Hey." Cross greeted them in return. He looked at the three of them. "What did I miss?"

"Well.." Dazzle cleared his throat, before saying any more. He seemed nervous and was clutching a small device designed for short-range communication. "I dunno if it's even true, but there have been rumors going around that the cons are actually building a massive fleet to attack the autobots' while they're down and all..." He finished.

"Where did you get this information from?" Cross asked, trying to keep his voice calm. 

Dazzle hesitated for a few seconds. He looked like he was about to say something, but decided against it, hesitating again.

"It's alright. Just take your time." Cross assured, seeing the minicon's hesitation.

"I... was a part of a team sent out to scout for decepticon activity..." Dazzle began. He looked around nervously like he expected a bunch of cons to burst through the door. "We overheard a bunch of decepticons talking about a fleet being built In Kaon. After going there to investigate, we found out it was true." Another pause. "The cons has blocked all frequencies, so we had no other choice other than to go back and alert high command. We made it back to Iacon, before..." Dazzle couldn't finish. Cross didn't need to hear the rest either to figure out what had happened.

"I'm sorry.." He didn't know what to say.

"It's fine. It already happened.." Dazzle quickly said, deciding to change the subject. "That's all I know." He finished, looking at the others. Cross nodded, he looked at Switchblade. "Still nothing...?"

"I'm afraid not.." Switchblade confirmed.

"Darn..." Lancer got up from where he was sitting. "We need to do something!" He looked at everyone else. "Think about it! With a fleet that big, the cons are going to win this war!".

"What are we supposed to do??" Cross snapped back. He didn't really mean to sound so harsh, but neither of them were capable of doing that much damage to a con fleet that big. There were Autobot forces all around Kaon as well. How could they not handle it...? "There are forces all around Kaon. If anyone can handle it, it's them." Cross sighed.

"Yeah right! And we haven't heard a word from them in deca-cycles!" Lancer crossed his arms, his face stern.

"Still, we're in no position do do anything!" Cross met Lancer's glare. "The situation here is bad enough as it is!"

"Well, I refuse to just sit and watch while the cons are winning!" Lancer turned around and walked off, leaving Cross, Dazzle, Astro and Switchblade there. Cross watched him walk off without a word.

"Um..." Dazzle spoke up. "If it helps, I know a friend who might be able to help us... He's a, well, mercenary/sort-of-decepticon. He's cool though!". Dazzle quickly reassured. 

Astro looked at Dazzle, his facial expression showing a hint of shock. "Is that who I think it is..?" He asked.

"Maybe. I don't know how you think.." Dazzle shrugged. "His name's Void. Do you know him?".

Astro was silent for a moment. ".. that's not possible.." He shook his head, staring in disbelief. "He died when the autobot academy blew up. I was there...".

"Well, he's definitely not dead, and is currently hiding out somewhere around the Tagan Heights.." Dazzle replied, putting the device he was holding down again.

Astro said something else, but Cross couldn't hear him as he had walked out of the room. He slowly opened the door, poking his head out, looking at the destruction. Lancer was nowhere in sight. He cursed, and stepped out, looking around.

:Lancer..?: He asked through the private short-range com they had, mentally preparing himself for the worst.

:GET OUT OF THERE!!: Lancer's voice came through the comm, above what sounded like a huge ship.

:Huh?! What's g-.... Primus!: Cross looked up in time to see a decepticon warship looming over the ground. The sight filled him with dread. "Impossible....! They were destroyed.!" Cross backed away. The ship deployed a group of deceptions which seemed to carry large shields, and were much bulkier than the average Cybertronian. There was no way they'd be able to defeat them.

:Evacuate!!: Lancer yelled as he used a piece of rubble as a ramp, jumping over to where Cross was. He transformed and ran into the base. Cross cursed and followed him,

"There's a con ship heading our way! We got to get out of here!" Lancer shouted to everyone else. "What?!" Switchblade quickly shut off the monitors, deactivating them. He then proceeded to take a copy of the systems in a chip, and shot what was left of the equipment. Cross and Astro gathered what they had of medical equipment and energon cubes. Lancer opened a panel in the wall and exposed the base's wiring, putting a palm-sized device in it. "Let's go!".

Switchblade, Astro and Dazzle transformed, leaving, while Lancer stayed and kept tinkering with the device. "Let's just leave it!" Cross exclaimed, glancing at the approaching cons. 

"Just hold on!" Lancer removed some wires from the device." An explosion shook the whole building, making Cross loose his footing. Lancer came with a string of curses and stood up.

"Alright, finished." Lancer said. Cross nodded, and the two of them also transformed, heading out and towards the others.

Seconds later, cons flooded their former base. Cross and the others watched from far away, staying out of sight. "There went our base...".

Lancer looked at it as well, holding up something that resembled a remote-control, and the realization quickly dawned upon Cross. "Wait for it..!" He said as the ship was directly above the base.

"Now!" Lancer pressed a button, causing a huge explosion to erupt from what had once been their base. It struck the ship, sending it crashing down. The cons that were inside at the time got flung out, some of them probably offlining. "That grenade sure did pack a punch.." Lancer looked at the chaos unfolding.

"I guess we have no choice then.." Cross stood up. He turned to Dazzle. "Do you remember where Void was last seen?" He asked. Dazzle nodded and pointed in a direction. The group transformed and started heading away from the burning pile of molten metal that had once been their hideout.

((Dun dun duuuuuuunnnn))


	3. Chapter 3

((Warning! This turned out much longer than the other two parts.))

The landscape seemed to stretch on forever. Grey metal plains, coupled with the occasional abandoned building and dead body, plus the unnerving silence in general, made the whole scene look almost surreal. Lancer, and Astro drove in zig-zag between all the rubble. Cross and Switchblade had been flying over the group, scouting ahead, luckily without seeing any more decepticons.

A sole structure stuck out from the rest of the land, looming above the ground like a gigantic pillar. Cross shuddered as he flew past it, catching a glimpse of its interiors, and the dead bots within. Dazzle flew up to him, not saying anything. Soon enough, the building disappeared from view, and the group continued on.

The rest of the days went by in a haze. They would travel for a while, before camping and getting some recharge. Then they would repeat the cycle again. It felt like the vast landscape on Cybertron never changed. Sometimes, they would spot con-ships soaring past and successfully manage to sneak away, while other times, the got spotted and had to battle their way out. But still, they kept going.

After what felt like deca-cycles, the trademark industrial-themed buildings of the Tagan Heights came into view, sticking out of the rest of the landscape like a sore digit. The countless factories that towered over the place had been out of commission since the war reached its worst, and now stood there as a mere reminder of the Cybertron that had once existed. The group arrived within the very centre of the industrial city, looking around. It was empty.

"I don't get it..." Dazzle exclaimed. The minicon transformed, and stopped. "It's all deserted now.." He muttered, looking down.

"He was here?" Cross asked, looking at the various buildings. They seemed to be in a better state than most other cities.

"Yeah.." Dazzle replied. "He and a couple of other bots."

"Great... we're just as far now.." Lancer sighed. "He probably had a good reason to leave."

Cross looked around again. Something seemed off with this whole thing. The city felt way to clean for one that had been the item of interest for both factions multiple times. Surely enough, the gunshots and burn-marks still remained littered all around the city, but there wasn't a body to be seen anywhere.

"Guys, I think we sh-" A bullet flew past Cross, singing the right side of his helmet, before embedding itself in the wall behind him. "Get down!" He deployed his shield, expanding it to cover the others. The effort took a toll on his energon levels, but he remained upright, sporting a firm expression. "Take cover!"

No one hesitated, as the sound of a gatling-gun could be heard above everything else. Cross cursed and dove behind cover as well, not wanting to waste anymore energy on the shield when he saw that everyone were safe. He crouched down, and carefully peeked over the edge of the cover, between two overlapping metal-plates, but quickly ducked as a new shot flew towards him, this time hitting his wing. He gritted his dentas and ignored the pain that followed.

:Do you know these bots?!: Cross asked Dazzle, who seemed to be genuinely shocked. The minicon has taken cover behind a piece of the wall, and looked back at Cross, his optics wide.

:Whoever they are, they've got us pinned down!: Lancer pointed to several tan or military-green bots standing atop of the roofs, holding blasters pointed at the group. Cross blinked. They definitely hadn't been there earlier. Was it some sort of cloaking-technology...?

"Hello??" Cross shouted, poking his head out from the rubble again. He got ready to activate his shield at the same time. "We don't mean any harm!" He held his servo's up to show that he didn't have any weapons. Lancer, Astro, Switchblade and Dazzle did the same. The bots on the rooftops still kept their weapons aimed at them, but wasn't firing. Cross mentally braced himself.

The silence that followed was almost unbearable. One of the bots said something to the other, which nodded and disappeared into a nearby building. Cross glanced at the rest of them, which didn't move.

"Did Void mention anything about this to you before?" Cross asked Dazzle, keeping his voice quiet. The minicon shook his head, shifting his weigh slightly from pede to pede, his gaze never leaving the blasters.

A short while after, the door to the building to Cross' left opened, and a tall, dark grey mech with yellow optics stepped out, bearing no visible insignia. The bots on the roof watched him closely as the mech made his way to Cross and the others. He stopped in front of Cross, looming over the shorter flier. "Why are you here?". His voice was dark, but not Megatron-level dark.

"We were just passing by. We didn't know you were here-" Cross began, doing his best to keep his voice steady, and to ignore the burning sensation in his left wing.

"You stopped in the middle of the city, looking for something it seemed." The mech deadpanned, interrupting Cross. "If you were normal scavengers, you wouldn't have walked past all the buildings without attempting to loot at least one of them." Darn. The mech had a point.

"Fine. We're looking for a bot named Void." Cross sighed. The mech narrowed his optics, looking at Cross clearly skeptical. "Why would we tell you anything?" He huffed, his frown never changing.

"Because if not, the cons are going to win this war." Cross tried to be as brief as possible, not giving all the details.

"It's true." Dazzle spoke up, ignoring the scowl the mech gave him.

"I've heard enough." The mech turned around, walking out. The bots at the roof aimed their blasters at the group again, charging them up. "Hey! You got to listen to us!" Dazzle yelled, almost taking a step forward. 

"And you expect me to believe two complete strangers?" The mech turned around once, giving Cross and Dazzle an almost incredulous look. Cross didn't reply. He wanted to say something else. Anything. Even thought it would probably never work. The sound of blasters charging up could be heard again. Cross glanced at Dazzle, who looked truly terrified, before getting ready to deploy his shield.

"Wait!" Someone shouted.

Cross looked towards the sound of the unfamiliar voice, spotting a military-green bot which obviously turned into a helicopter, standing on the rooftop closest to the group. The bot had red optics, and a visor on his forehead. He also sported a mildly puzzled expression, his gaze falling on Dazzle.

"Dazzle...?" The copterbot asked, jumping down from the roof and walking closer, unfazed by the fall.

"Void..? You're alive!" Dazzle exclaimed.

"You're Void??" Cross asked, looking at him, then at Dazzle.

"The one and only." Void chuckled. "Who are you bots?"

"Right. The name's Cross." Cross introduced himself. So did Lancer, Switchblade and Astro. 

The dark-grey mech glared, but said nothing as he crossed his arms. He walked over to Void. "We need to talk." He stated. "Keep an eye on them." He ordered the bots on the roof, as Void and him walked a distance away. Cross looked after them. The two kept their voices at a low volume while speaking. Void was obviously the more emotional of the two, as he gestured with his arms and pointed to Dazzle. They talked for a bit more, before the grey mech sighed, his frown lessening slightly. He said something else to Void even quieter, his voice gentler than before. Void hugged the mech in return, before looking at the group and walking back again.

"Whatever it is, we better discuss it in a less open place." Void said, gesturing to the sky to emphasize his point. "Follow me." He started walking towards a building that seemed smaller than the rest. The windows were covered with metal-plates, and the whole structure looked like it could collapse at any moment. The dark grey mech followed them closely, his gaze locked on the small group.

Void took them further into the building, which seemed bigger on the inside than outside. Mostly due to the fact that they were walking downwards, maybe towards some kind of underground bunker. The walls here were covered in metal-plates as well, probably because the ones who built this were in a hurry.

Void walked to a seemingly normal wall, opening one of the metal panels and entering a code. He then stepped back as a door opened, revealing a small room, maybe an elevator of sorts. Cross looked at it, feeling somewhat uneasy.

The ride down the elevator itself felt like more than just thirty astro-kliks. Cross offline his optics, trying not to think about it. :You alright?: Lancer used the private comm link again, looking at Cross with a concerned expression. :Yeah: Cross replied back. Astro-kliks later, the lift stopped with a slight jolt, before the doors slid up, revealing a bigger room with crates stacked up against the walls. A few bots walked past them, looking like they were in a hurry. Void started walking, waiting for the group to follow.

"W-what is this place..?" Switchblade spoke up, glancing at the various bots they passed, clearly nervous. Cross couldn't say he blamed him either, as most of them were either glaring or carrying weapons around. "I guess you could refer to this as our base." Void shrugged as the group passed something that resembled a makeshift med-bay, before walking past a couple of identical looking doors, maybe living-quarters, Cross guessed, before they took another bunch of turns, stopping in front of a reinforced door. 

Void walked to the control-panel next to them, typing. A few moments later, the door slid up with a loud, creaking sound. Void cringed. "Yeah, I need to get that fixed up. Anyway, this is the briefing room." He pointed to the room behind, which had a hologram-projector standing in the middle. There were also a table standing near the wall furthest from them, supporting several stacks of datapads. The group stepped into the room, looking around. Void and the dark grey mech walked in as well, having another conversation. Cross couldn't hear much of it. 

After a while Void walked in front of the group, towards the projector. "So.." He began. "Mind telling me what the big emergency is?" He looked at the group.

Dazzle told Void about the decepticon fleet and how they had ended up here, with Cross occasionally coming with inputs. Void was silent and listened the entire time. When they were done explaining he frowned. "I knew they were up to something!".

"You knew about this?" Cross asked.

"We had our suspicions." The dark grey mech sighed. He turned on the hologram-projector, which activated and showed a shimmering, blue replica of Cybertron. He pointed to Kaon and the area around it. "We had picked up an increasing con-activity in that area."

"So... you'll help?" Cross asked, honestly a bit shocked at all this. The mech nodded, his face still somewhat stern. He walked to the projector, and changed it to an image of a large facility.

"This right here is where the ships are being built." He pointed to a huge chamber on the right side. "And this..." He zoomed in. "Is where the fleet's currently being kept." He pointed to a large area.

"There are also guards all over the place, coupled with cameras and droids constantly on the lookout. You'll also have to get past the force-fields, and the sniper-posts surrounding the facility itself." The mech continued explaining the various defense-systems. Cross frowned. A normal attack would have been impossible, even with the help of the other bots.

"Great! Where do we start? It's not like we can just attack, and not to mention the troopers..." Dazzle began.

"That, is where these comes in!" Void grinned, while holding up a couple of holographic-devices. They looked like it at least. Cross wasn't really sure. The design had been tweaked to be worn as armour-parts, and had the symbol of the decepticons imprinted on them. "Is that....?"

"This is the reason why the troopers looks so similar!" Void equipped five of the devices. He put one on each elbow, before attaching one each on his kneecaps, and a bigger one on his chest. He then activated them, making his whole figure seemingly shift. Seconds later, a generic, decepticon-trooper was standing where Void had been. "See?" The trooper asked.

"Awesome!" Lancer stared at Void shocked. "Where did you get these?" He asked, pointing to a crate that seemed to be full of them.

"We intercepted a con ship. It was some sort of cargo-craft, and had these." Void shrugged.

"Now, if you're done...?" The grey mech cleared his throat, before continuing. 

Cross turned his attention to the mech and listened to him talk about how they also needed a team to pretend being captured. Void volunteered to act as the "con", due to having some experience with the facility already. Cross, Switchblade and Astro were going to disguise themselves as the troopers and gain access to the ship's hangar. Meanwhile, Lancer, Astro and Void were going to plant a timed bomb in the center of the factory, blowing the whole thing up. 

"And of course we'll back you up as well. We'll set the plan into motion tomorrow, so I suggest getting some rest. Am I clear?" The dark grey mech looked at them like they had just volunteered to die. Which they probably had.

"I'll show you your temporary living-quarters" Void opened the door, walking out. Cross nodded and followed the shorter mech out with the rest of the group. He had a bad feeling about this, but knew it was too late to turn back now. After they had settled down, he slowly felt himself slipping into recharge, dreaming about something he wouldn't remember in the morning.

((Yay! A new character joined the squad! Whew. Only part 4 left now...))


	4. Chapter 4

((Warning, this is also pretty long.))

Chapter 4

The facility itself slowly came into view as a menacing collection of jagged structures and defense-systems. A small gate lead in to the main facility, while several snipers kept watch over the area from the huge wall surrounding it. If one squinted, the transparent purple force-field that deflected all aerial attacks, was visible as a flickering sphere above the facility itself.

Cross tried to hide how nervous he actually was, as they were slowly approaching it using a con-ship they had stolen earlier. He knew he had gone over the plans about a hundred times now, but still couldn't keep the sense of dread away. Dazzle was speaking to Void and Switchblade. Lancer was talking with Astro. The dark grey mech, who's name turned out to be Shadow, was leaning to the wall, his arms crossed as he looked at the approaching target. The general atmosphere was somewhat nervous.

He went over the plan one last time. First, he, Dazzle and Switchblade were going to sneak in and disable the security-cameras, and then the force-field and most of the defense-systems. Then, Lancer, Void and Astro were going to get inside and meet up with a friend of Void, before making their way down to the main-reactor and overheat it. From there, they'd have fifteen minutes to get the heck out of there before the building exploded, and Shadow's ships blew up the remaining fleet. The bomb would explode the facility, but the ships would still be there. It was going to work. So he told himself at least, as he attached the last projector to his elbow, activating it.

He glanced over at Switchblade and Dazzle. The latter was too small to be taken for a trooper, and had instead transformed into plane-mode, attaching himself to Switchblade's back. Cross walked over to them. "Are you ready?".

"Y-yeah.." Switchblade had also equipped the projectors, and now resembled a very uneasy trooper.

"Yup." Dazzle spoke up. Cross could still hear a nervous undertone to his voice.

"It's going to be okay." He reassured, a bit to himself too. They were going to make it. "We've got Shadow's troops backing us up as well.". They had. Even though Shadow   
seemed sort of... sketchy. But Void trusted him, and that was good enough for Cross.

Switchblade nodded, but still looked skeptical. Cross couldn't blame him anyway. Not everyone was going to come back from the mission, and he knew it.

"If you're done chatting..." Shadow spoke up, pointing to a guard-outpost. Cross nodded and braced himself, trying to look as expressionless as possible.

Their ship landed not too far away, and they immediately got radioed. :This is outpost D-74. Identify yourself!: A voice rang through the speakers. Cross tensed for a moment, wondering if this was such a good idea after all.

"I got this." Void walked to the control-panel, pressing the speaker-button. He spoke with a slightly deeper voice than he normally used. :This is Rapidwar reporting for duty. We have successfully managed to capture two autobots who may have important information:. He finished, looking at Cross and the others.

They were met by silence for a few kliks, before the same mech spoke up again. :You may proceed.:. The call then ended. The doors slid up. "Let's do this." Lancer walked out, followed by Astro. Void then deployed his gun, pointing it at Astro's helmet.

"Alright. This is it.." Cross looked as the ship's doors opened, before walking out along with Switchblade. The two of them pretended to guard the 'prisoners', as Void spoke with the guards, using his alias. Shadow flew the ship away in the meantime.

Kliks later, the huge gate slowly slid open, allowing the small group to pass further into the facility. There were small ships everywhere, and troopers walked in and out of the buildings, carrying weapons and materials. Cross tried to keep his face neutral as he passed several other troopers, parting ways with Void's group. He watched as they disappeared into the structure using an entrance to the right, wondering if he'd ever see them again.

Switchblade, Dazzle and him soon found themselves towards the door at the left side, opening it. As the door slid up, Cross poked his helmet in and peeked around. When he saw no one, he gave a thumbs-up to Switchblade. The latter also walked inside, looking to the right, and then to the left. A long corridor stretching towards both ends were currently their only option. And then there were the security-cameras scattered throughout the complex.

The trio passed another four troopers, giving a salute, before continuing on. Cross let his posture relax a bit when they were out of sight. He lifted a hand to his right audio, sending an encrypted signal to Lancer and the others. :What's your status?:

The line was crackling with static for a few astro-kliks, before Lancer's voice rang through. :We're nearing in on the cells. Void and Astro are still here, but a couple of other troopers decided that taking us there was a good idea.:

Cross cursed inwardly. :alright. Just hold on. We're trying to find a place to rig the equipment.: He looked around to make sure no one was there.

:Roger that.: Lancer cut the line off. Cross and the others continued on.

"How about this?" Switchblade pointed to a door leading to something that looked like a storage room. Cross walked to the door. He looked around, spotting no visible security cameras. Still, they should probably be quick. He opened the door, allowing Switchblade and Dazzle to walk through, before entering himself and locking the door.

Switchblade un-subspaced a couple of monitors, along with two computers. After that, he took the chip he had gotten from the base and plugged it into the main console. The screens lit up, and he walked to the keyboard. Dazzle released himself and transformed, landing next to the copterbot. Meanwhile, Cross kept watch at the door.

:Alright, we're in position.: Lancer notified. Cross looked over at Switchblade, who was working at getting through the various layers of defense around the system. 

"Alright." Said bot spoke up after a moment.

"Did it work?" Cross asked, looking at the monitors.

"Yeah.." Switchblade replied. "The cameras are frozen, coupled with some loops to avoid suspicion." He finished.

"Alright." Cross comm-linked Lancer and the others, telling them. Seconds later, the sound of someone getting shocked could be heard. 

:I think we're clear for now.: Lancer spoke up again. :Heading towards the main-reactor:.

:Alright. Shadow, are you ready?: Cross asked said mech, only to be met by static. After a while, he could hear several bots shouting, as well as explosions. :Shadow? Are you there..?:.

:Yeah.: Shadow finally spoke up. :Just some....minor inconveniences.:

:Okay then....: Cross couldn't help but be concerned as the other mech suddenly hung up. Something had clearly happened. He sighed. Despite this, it was too late. They had to carry on with the mission anyway. :Lancer, what's the status?: He asked.

:We just headed downstairs!: Void replied. A gunshot was heard, followed by another one. :Dang! Someone must have known about this, because a bunch of them were just there waiting, and we've got the entire facility heading our way-!: The comm was interrupted by a myriad of blaster-sounds.

"Oh no...." Cross heard the signal terminate. It was supposed to work. How the heck had the cons known about this...?! He had to stay calm. He couldn't lose his head. Especially not now.

"What happened?!" Switchblade must have seen Cross' expression. Dazzle gazed up at the latter, also worried.

"They're under attack. It was like someone knew about this.." Cross sighed. He turned to Switchblade. "Just focus on keeping those defense-systems down." He did his best to keep his voice steady, thankful for his visor. Switchblade nodded and turned his attention back to the monitors, being silent. Cross tried to contact Shadow again, wondering if the mech was still alive.

The line was met by static. Cross cursed, out loud this time. The comm-link between Lancer and the others, and him was silent as well except for the occasional gunshot or explosion. And now the alarms started blaring as well. He glance at the door, then at Switchblade and Dazzle. "We need to move!" He gathered the equipment together and gave it to Switchblade, before deploying his shield, peering out of the door.

There were several troopers running around, all of them carrying their blasters ready to fire at any Autobot that happened to be in sight. Cross looked back at Switchblade and Dazzle. :Don't worry. They'll be fine. We just need to get to the ship's hangar and disable the forcefield.:.

Switchblade nodded. Dazzle transformed and attached himself to Switchblade's back again. The latter drew his weapon as well. Cross offlined his optics for a brief second, mentally preparing himself, before he onlined them and ran towards his destination. Luckily, the troopers were too distracted to notice the two of them heading the opposite direction.

As he ran, he would sometimes get random calls from either Lancer or Void explaining the status. They were down at the second level, the main-reactor within sight. The only problem, was getting out again. Cross tried calling Shadow one last time, before giving up on it. He reached the hangar-door, overriding the lock. It was surprisingly easy. Maybe the cons were starting to get cocky after all. Or maybe.... he tried not to think of it.

The large door slid up, to reveal row upon row with battleships just waiting to be activated. Cross stared, shocked. The autobots wouldn't stand a chance if the find attacked with these. He clenched his fists, looking for the controls to the force-field.

"There they are!" Someone shouted, followed by multiple pedesteps. Cross froze, inches away from the control-panel, staring in shock as a large group of troopers approached them, blasters pointed at him and Switchblade. He deployed his shield as they charges up their weapons.

:You didn't expect this, right?:

Cross' optics widened as he recognized the voice. :What....?!:. 

:Oh, it's nothing personal. I need the shanix: Shadow sounded like he was shrugging.

:Why...what about Void?!: He began. A part of him knew this was going to happen. It all went way too easy. He shouldn't have let his guard down.

:I already told him.: Shadow snorted. :He's useless now anyway.:

:You..!: Cross wanted to yell at him. Or curse him out. Just anything than this stupid silence. He had had his suspicions about Shadow, but it still shocked him.

:What is it? Turbofox got your glossa? Oh well, it doesn't matter. You're all going to die in about ten seconds." Shadow terminated the signal, leaving the troopers to charge up them weapons. Cross raised his shield, prepared to use it.

:Cover your optics!!: Dazzle, who had been next to Switchblade, was now in front of the troopers, jumping up in the air, as he himself tinted his visor. The realization dawned upon Cross, and Switchblade as well, as both of them simultaneously covered their optics. It turned out to be just in time, as Dazzle the next second emitted a bright flash, effectively blinding the rest of the troopers.

:Let's go!: Cross yelled. He grabbed Dazzle, and ran towards the ships while the cons were stumbling around.

Cross ran over to the second nearest ship, opening up the hatch. "Quick! Get in!" He urged the two as he glanced at the troopers. They still appeared to be mildly dazed at least. Switchblade picked up Dazzle, jumping into the hatch, before Cross followed, closing it behind them.

"Alright, how do you fly this thing?!" Dazzle exclaimed, looking at the dashboard, which was covered in buttons.

:Cross...?: It was Lancer.

:Lancer?? Are you alright? Where are y-??:

:Just... listen to me. We managed to get to the main-reactor..: He coughed. :And we overheated it... which means that.. you have about seven minutes to get Switchblade and Dazzle the heck out of here!:

:What are you talking about?! We'll get out of this alive, you three as well..!: Cross refused to believe it. He stared out of the window, towards the myriad of cons pointing their weapons at the ship. One of them was shouting something inaudible to him. He didn't want to believe it. He refused to.

:We can't...: Lancer sighed. :The cons are literally trying to blast the chamber-door open at this very moment. If they get here... everything we've done will be for nothing..:. As if to emphasize the point, an explosion was heard, followed by someone shouting with a muffled voice.

:....: Cross was silent for a moment. He knew what was about to happen. They weren't going to make it. He clenched his left fist, denting the metal wall behind him. :I refuse to let you die like that!: Darn it Lancer!

:I'm sorry.: Lancer said. After that, he didn't say anything else. 

The signal terminated, leaving Cross standing there, frozen.

"Are they......?!' Switchblade looked at him, his optics wide. The cons were still trying to get inside the ship.

"I..." Cross couldn't say anything. He felt frozen. An explosion shook the ship, nearly making him loose his footing. Dazzle tried to activate the ship, opening a window and firing at the decepticons. They weren't coming back.

"What do we do..?!" Dazzle backed away from the windows, his hand lifted as if to fire a laserbeam.

Cross snapped out of it. He gritted his dentas, glaring at the cons. He turned to Dazzle and Switchblade. "You two get out of here. I need to do something.".

"What are you going to-..?!" Switchblade was cut off as an explosion shook the ship again. The monitor beeped with a warning about possible heavy damage.

"Shadow clearly isn't going to do something, and we can't leave the ships like this." Cross activated the ship, making it hover a few feet up.

"But... you'll..!" Dazzle stuttered, hesitating.

"It'll be fine." Cross sighed. Darn it! He had never been the best at handling emotional stuff, or saying goodbye. He looked at both of them. "I'll disable the force-field and distract them. You two get the heck out of here.".

"A-alright...!" Dazzle puffed up his chest, trying not to look scared. He wiped his optics and transformed, linking to Switchblade. Switchblade nodded, avoiding optic contact.

Cross turned his attention towards the cons, and steered the ship towards the force-field controls, opening fire. The purple shield flickered once, before fizzling out. When that had been done, Cross then fired at the other ships, making one after the other explode. "Now!" He shouted to Switchblade and Dazzle, who transformed, flying out of a hatch opening at the roof.

When they were out of sight, Cross continued firing at the ships, intending to destroy as many as possible. He flew the ship up in the air, charging up the main laser-canon as the cons scattered, some transforming and flying away, while others were attempting to bring out their shields.

An ear-shattering explosion engulfed the facility to the right of him in orange flames, tearing it apart from the inside out. The shockwave hit the ship, sending it swerving out of control, before Cross managed to stabilize it. He glanced towards the melting remains, wondering if Lancer and the others somehow had gotten out, before realizing that the laser-canon was fully charged.

The cons manned some of the ships, flying away. Cross didn't care. It was still too few to pose any real threat. Turning his attention to the still empty ships, he braced himself, and swooped down above the row of ships while firing the laser-beam in the process. It swept over all of them, breaking them instantly. He kept going, until most of them were reduced to pieces of rubble.

A sudden blast hit the ship, sending him crashing down. It was only by a sheer miracle that he managed to jump off, and activate his thrusters. Hitting the ground, the mech rolled several times before stopping, disoriented. He got up, trying to stop the ringing in his audios. The facility was a blurry mess of molten metal and wrecked ships, with several pillars of smoke rising from the site.

Cross attempted to get up, only for someone to grab him by the head and hoist him up. As he met the culprit's gaze, he found himself staring face-to face with a grey mech with blazing, crimson optics, and a large fusion-canon mounted on his arm.

"Did you really think you could just 'drop by' and destroy my fleet? How sad." The mech lifted his arm with the canon on. Cross didn't reply. Partially because his voice-box had been damaged, but also because he knew it was pointless. Megatron smirked.

The time seemed to slow down as the canon activated. He saw Lancer, Switchblade and him talking before the war. Everything had been so peaceful then even though the tension between the two sides had been apparent back then as well. After a while, it changed to Lancer joking about something. The mech had always been positive, no matter how negative things looked. In the end, Cross did appreciate it.

He offlined his optics, as the sound of the canon firing was heard. The rest was darkness.


End file.
